Surat rape-murder case: Accused arrested, brought to Ahmedabad

Prime accused of of rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl was brought by Ahmedabad police crime branch to Ahmedabad.

On Friday, police claimed to have cracked the case by arresting the prime accused from Rajasthan.

According to initial probe by police, it was revealed that girl and her widowed mother from Gangapur in Rajasthan. Both mother and daughter had been bought by the accused for Rs 35,000 to be used as bonded labourers.

Harsayai started raping the mother and the girl who lived in a room of his three-storey house in Surat, police said, adding he wanted to kill the mother for objecting to his advances. On April 5, he strangulated her to death as it was getting difficult to confine her anymore.

Harsayai Gurjar (35) was arrested from Gangapur in Rajasthan’s Sawai Madhopur district, while three others, including Harsayai’s brother Harisinh, and two other brothers — Naresh and Amarsinh Gurjar were detained on Friday, crime branch officials said.

According to the Surat Crime Branch, which is probing the case with the help of a four-member team from Ahmedabad Crime Branch, the breakthrough came from a CCTV footage which showed that on the night of April 5, two cars a Maruti Wagon R and a Chevrolet Spark — had passed through the spot from where the girl’s body was found the next morning.

On questioning, the owner of the Chevrolet Spark broke down and confessed that his car had been used in disposing of the body of the girl, said police. The car owner, whose identity has been withheld by the police, is under detention.